Atlanta Cyclorama

History Comes Full Circle

Construction on the Lloyd and Mary Ann Whitaker Cyclorama Building began in early December 2015 and is expected to be complete in 2017 on the Atlanta History Center’s 33-acre Buckhead campus. The Atlanta History Center intends to restore The Battle of Atlanta painting to its full hyperbolic (hourglass) shape, size and overall height while recreating the 128-year-old painting’s original visual perspective, which has been lost for nearly a century. Beginning in 2017, the public will be able to view the ongoing restoration of The Battle of Atlanta painting, with a full opening and dedication cermony to follow in 2018. Once the painting has been fully restored, Atlanta residents, tourists, and other visitors can witness The Battle of Atlanta as it was originally intended to be viewed when it was painted in 1886.

The Atlanta History Center is sending the Texas, the rare locomotive, to the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina, to restore it for static display. The Texas is expected to return to the Atlanta History Center in early 2017. It will be permanently featured in a custom-built glass-walled enclosure that will put the prized artifact of Atlanta’s rich railroading past on prominent display, where it will be illuminated at night and clearly visible from West Paces Ferry Road at all hours.